University of WisconsinMilwaukee

Department of Occupational Science and Technology

Certificate in Therapeutic Recreation Program

THERREC 310

FACILITATION TECHNIQUES IN THERAPEUTIC RECREATION (4 credits)

Spring 2011

Instructor:Patricia Thomas, MPA, CTRS

Phone: (414) 229-2507 (office)

(414) 229-5100 (fax)

E-mail:

Office Location:Enderis Hall 935

Office Hours:I will be in my “office”via email, discussion boards, telephone most days of the week. I am also available byappointment for a face to face meeting, telephone call or email exchange. Please note I try to respond to student requests within 48 hours however sometimes it may take me longer due to other work commitments. Please include the name of the course in the title or body of your email to me. I teach 3+ different courses per semester.

Instructional Materials

1. Schoel, J. & Maizell, R. (2002) Exploring Islands of Healing – New Perspectives on Adventure Based Counseling, Project Adventure: Beverly, MA.

2. Dattilo, J. (2000) Facilitation Techniques in Therapeutic Recreation, Venture: State College, PA.

3. Dattilo, J., & Murphy, W. (1999). Leisure Education Program Planning: A Systematic Approach, Venture: State College, PA. (You do not have to purchase this book if you are doing Option #2 for the Comprehensive Project in Module 5)

4. Assigned readings as posted.

Recommended Instructional Materials

(Students, in the TR Certificate Program, are encouraged to purchase one of the recommeded materials for their personal reources. I do have copies of some of the activities in PDF throughout the various modules.)

5. Stumbo, Norma J. (1997) Leisure Education I, II or III. Venture: State College, PA.

6. Dattilo, John. (2000) Leisure Education Specific Programs. Venture: State College, PA.

7. Rohnke, Karl ((1984) Silver Bullets A Guide to Initiative Problems, Adventure Games and Trust Activities. Kendall/Hunt: Dubuque, IA.

Course Description

This is a totally online course. The course will focus on the study of various facilitation techniques used in the field of Therapeutic Recreation (TR). Specific emphasis will be placed on Leisure Education Prereq: None.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, it is expected that participants will be able to:

1. Describe the principles of behavioral change as they relate to the person served,

2. Apply the principles of group dynamics and leadership to TR services,

3. Compare and contrast the mutilple roles of the instructorto include: Skills Trainer, Translator, Group Facilitator and 1:1 Counselor,

4. Identify and integrate social, cultural, economic, gender, age and ethnic issues related to theprovision of TR services,

5. Distinguish and analyzevarious facilitation techniques for the appropriate intervention and optimal patient/client outcomes. Techniques may include (but are not limited to)

  • Behavior management
  • Cognitive retraining
  • Humor
  • Leisure Education/counseling
  • Reality orientation
  • Reminiscence
  • Remotivation
  • Sensory stimulation
  • Social skills training
  • Stress managment
  • Validation
  • Values clarification

6. Distinguish and analyze the appropriate modality to combine with the appropriate instructor role to bring about optimal patient/client outcomes. Modalities may include (but are not limited to)

  • Adventure experiences/initiatives
  • Animal assisted interventions
  • Anger management (e.g., relaxation techniques)
  • Aquatic Therapy
  • Assertiveness training
  • Assistive techniques, technology and adaptive devices
  • Athletics/sports
  • Bibliotherapy/storytelling/Journaling
  • Creative Arts (art, music, dance)
  • Community Reintergration
  • Exercise
  • Games
  • Horticulture

7. Demonstrate critical and creative thinking through completion of a comprehensive treatment program for the individuals served

Need for Accommodations

If you need accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of this course, please contact the instructor as soon as possible. A student VISA is helpful to meet student need. Students will be allowed to complete course requirements that are missed because of a religious observance.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is reprehensible and will not be tolerated by the University. It subverts the mission of the University and threatens the careers, educational experience, and well being of students, faculty, and staff. The University will not tolerate behavior between or among members of the University community which creates an unacceptable working environment.

Course Policies

All policies governing University course proceedings including student actions shall be followed. Policies regarding course assignments, grading, and participation that are mentioned in this syllabus shall be enforced as described.

A. All assignments are to be word-processed (except where noted). A 10-12-point font should be used. Your name and appropriate identifying information (e.g. date, the name of the course, instructor name) should appear on the top of the first page of the assignment. Assignments will ONLY be accepted in Microsoft Word or rich text format (.RTF).

B. As this is 300 level 4-credit course, there are high expectations for what is presented (content) as well as how it is presented (process). Present your ideas effectively by using appropriate terminology and concentrating on grammar, spelling, person centered terminology and sentence and paragraph construction. Points will be deducted for assignments that do not present professionally.

C. Students are expected to keep current with the reading assignments, and to integrate this material with the assignments for each module and to build on previous knowledge gained with each module.

D. It is strongly recommended you make a copy of all assignments. Assignments may get misplaced or lost through computer difficulties. It is the student’s responsibility to reproduce a lost assignment.

E. Plagiarism. Each student is expected to do his or her own work for all course assignments. Any student found cheating, plagiarizing a written assignment, of falsifying a course requirement will receive a failing grade for the assignment and/or be referred for University disciplinary action. It is expected students will understand how to correctly incorporate a reference into assignments without the appearance of plagiarism.

F. Participation: Students are expected to demonstrate intellectual and practical skills including inquiry, analysis, creative and critical thinking and information literacy through the discussion boards and other assignments. It is important students participate in all assignments as defined by the course schedule to demonstrate knowledge comprehension.

G. Patient Health Information: In compliance with the new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), any protected Patient Health information (PHI) obtained by students during the course of completing assignments (facilitation technique observation) will be held confidential by the instructor to prevent further use and disclosure. Students should strive to prevent unintended or unauthorized disclosure of PHI. All assignments should be written so as to reveal as little identifying information of individuals served as is absolutely necessary. Students are reminded that any notes, files, diskettes or electronic files in their control that contain PHI should be kept in a secure place. Additionally, students are strongly encouraged to destroy the all PHI received from the field experience agency WHEN THE COURSE IS COMPLETED.

H. Late assignments. Late assignments will result in point deductions. One point for each day will be deducted up through the end of the module. After the module has ended it will be the discretion of the instructor if an assignment will be late. In most cases, late discussion board participation will NOT be accepted. Students should contact the instructor ideally BEFORE the assignment is due or as soon as possible to discuss a plan of action.

I. Honor Code. The College of Health Sciences (CHS) has established an honor code for all students to follow. It is posted on the D2L site under the introductory module. Students are encouraged to read the document and, more importantly, follow all of the tenets of the code.

J. Keep communication lines open. Let the instructor know of your needs, constraints as early as possible; prior to the assignment due dates.

K. Additional information about University policies may be found at

Course Assignments

Be sure to check each of the Module Activites (in D2L) for additional up to date information about the assignments.

Module One – Online Orientation

1 week module

January 23-29, 2011

This module is similar to the first day of a face to face class. You are expected to become familiar with the Desire to Learn (D2L) course site. Be sure to explore the Content section, Discussion Boards, Links and the other areas of the D2L site. See the D2L course site Content section Module 1 for details of the module and required readings. The 2 assignments for this module include

1.Sign Generator Icebreaker Activity (5 points) - This is quick assignment to allow you to get to know your classmates and the discussion board feature of D2L. We will be using the discussion board feature quite extensively throughout this course. Go to the says-it.com website available at on sign of your choice.Keep in mind this is a class assignment, so do keep your selection appropriate for a general audience. Then create your own personal sign to post to the Ice Breaker Discussion Board. Your sign should tell us something about yourself. You may theneither save the sign as a picture or copy/paste it into a Word or Powerpoint document. Post it to the discussion board with a brief explanation of why you selected the specific sign. Have fun and be creative. In addition, include content about your experience leading or facilitating groups and one to one activities/interventions. Consider facilitation in the broad sense of the word; beyond TR groups. Your facilitation experience may include family gatherings, get-togethers with friends, church groups, etc. Include in your posting a description of the type of population and the setting.

Due Date: End of Week 1 Sat 1/29

2. Optional questions about TR (0 points) – This is an optional opportunity for you to ask questions about the profession of therapeutic recreation (TR). There is an assumption you have a general sense of the profession for this course. If you are new to TR, please take some time to review the TR Program information and the What is TR PowerPoint lectures (Ppt) found in the content section. Questions may be posted to the Q & A discussion board throughout the semester.

Due Date:None, as needed throughout the semester.

Summary of Module OneAssignments - Week 1

Module / Description / Points / Due Date
1 / Sign Generator Ice Breaker / 5 / End of Week 1
Total Points / 5

Module Two – Course Orientation

1 week Module

January 30 - February 5, 2011

This module is similar to the first day of a face to face class. You are expected to continuing familiarizing yourself with the COURSE CONTENT found in Module Two in the D2L course site. See Module 2 Content section for details of the module and required readings. The 1 assignment for this module is

1. Sign Generator Response Posting (5 points each = 15 points) – This assignment is to demonstrate to you the value of reading through all of the postings from your peer group. You are required to read all the postings and then comment on three (3) postings by your peers. The response postings should be more than “I agree” statements. Response posting may include responding to peer’s signs that were: most creative, surprising, similar to yours, difficult to understand, made you smile, etc. The post should be approximately 1-2 paragraphs in length and may be written in a conversational manner. Please note points will be deducted for not reading all postings.

Due Date:End of Week 2Sat 2/5

Summary of Module Two Assignments - Week 2

Module / Description / Points / Due Date
2 / Responses to 3 other student’s comments on sign icebreaker and facilitation experiences / 15 / End of Week 2
Total Points / 15

Module Three – Role of the Facilitator

2 week module

February 6-19, 2011

The learning outcomes for this module include: 1. Describe the principles of behavioral change as they relate to the person served and 2. Apply the principles of group dynamics and leadership to TR services and 3. Compare and contrast the multiple roles of the instructor to include: Skills Trainer, Translator, Group Facilitator and 1:1 Counselor

This module allows us to dive right in with the role of the group facilitator. You are expected to assess your own leadership skills with persons servedand reflect on other individual’s leadership skills in a popular movie. The 2 assignments for this module include:

1. GRABBSS Leadership Assessments (25 points)–The purpose of this assignment is to begin to critically reflect on your own facilitation skill level. Complete the Leadership Assessment using the GRABBSS assessment tool posted in Module 3 or found in chapter 8 (Leadership Assessment) in the Exploring Islands of Healing book. You may create a Word document using the catergories and questions found on pages 129- 140 or download the form found under Module 3Activities on D2L. Post completed assginment to the Drop Box.

Due Date:End of Week 3 Sat 2/12

2.28 Days Film Critique(25 points) – View the movie 28 Days starring Sandra Bullock. This movie should be available at your local video/DVD rental store or your local library. After viewingthe film, write a reflection paper addressing the questions found in the module activities section.Post your completed assignment to the Drop Box

Due Date: End of Week 4 Sat 2/19

Summary of Module Three Assignments – Week 3 & 4

Module / Description / Points / Due Date
3 / GRABBS Leadership Assessment / 25 / End of Week 3
3 / 28 Days film Critique / 25 / End of Week 4
Total Points / 50

Module Four – Group Facilitation

2 week module

February 20 – March 5, 2011

The objective for this module is to identify and integrate social, cultural, economic, gender, age and ethnic issues related to theprovision of TR services for culture group of persons with disabilities. This modulealso allows us to now move on and begin to collect some activities for your own personal “bag of tricks” through sharing of icebreakers, debreifing tools and a group activity session description. There are 3 assignments for this module:

1. Briefing Tools - Ice Breakers (10 points each = 100 points) - Starting with this module and continuing into the next module, you are expected to post 10 ice breaker activities on the Ice Breaker Discussion Boardfor everyone to have for their personal resources. Each posting should include

a brief description of the activity,

the reference for additonal information,

supply/equipment needs,

duration of time for the activity

and some helpful hints to implement the activity

You are expected to post a minimum of 5 “ice breakers” in this module and the remaining ice breakers by the end of the next module. Suggestions for ice breakers may be found in the required and recommended instructional materials, websites, the links section of D2L, your personal collection or any other resource you may find. Please use in the title of the message Ice Breaker #1 (name of activity optional), #2, etc. in your posting for ease of review.Please feel free to use graphics in your postings. Creativity is encouraged. You are strongly encouraged to review the postings by your peers. No points will be awarded for repeat icebreakers. The person who posts first will get the points. Keep in mind these are introductory activities that may take 5-30 minutes to start a group process. Students are expected to demonstrate the difference between the 3 main sections of a group (icebreaker, body, debriefing) through the selection of appropriate activities. Points will not be awarded for body or debriefing activities for this assignment.

Due Date: End of Week 5 Sat 2/26

2. Debriefing Tools - Metaphors (10 points each = 50 points)– Often times TR practitioners find it helpful to use different tools to help set up the metaphor for a discussion on the value of an activity. During this module, you are expected to post 5activities you may use as part of the debriefing processto the Debriefing Tools Discussion Board. You may create your own tool or locate tools from the variety of resources available to you (textbooks, websites, D2L links, past experience, etc.).Please title each postingDeBriefing Tool #1 (name of activity optional), #2, etc. in your posting for ease of review. You are strongly encouraged to read thepostings by others. Again, no repeat activities will be accepted. This is your opportunity to build your own personal resource files. Each posting should include

a brief description of the tool,

the reference for additional information,

supply/equipment needs,

duration of time for the activity

and some helpful hints to implement the activity to close a group

Due Date: End of Week 6 Sat 3/5

3. Debriefing Discussion Questions or What, So What, Now What – (50 points) For this assignment you are required to create 1 group session of your choice (see listing of facilitation techniques and modalities under course objectives) and include discussion questions that address the What, So What and Now What categories of debriefing an activity or group. The 1 session group should follow the following format:

Session Title

Session Goals

Supplies/equipment needed

Session Description

  • Introduction (Briefing) – Description of an ice breaker activity for the session
  • Body (Doing) – Descripton of activity to be used to meet the goals
  • Conclusion (Debriefing) – A listing of discussion questions that address What, So What, Now What for the activity

References/Resources if any

The paper should be posted to the Drop Box.

Due Date: End of Week 6 Sat 3/5

Hint: Begin to think about who you are going to observe for the facilitation technique reflection paper due after Spring Break. It will take some time to organize the observation. Please do not wait until the paper is due. It may take a practitioner 1 week or more to get back to you. Contact the instructor via the Q&A discussion board or email for assistance.

Summary of Module Four Assignments Week 5 & 6

Module / Description / Points / Due Date
4 / 10 Ice Breaker acitivities – a minimum of 4 activities for this module / 10 points each= 100 points / 5activities due end of Week 5
4 / 5 Debriefing Tools / 10 points each = 50 points / End of Week 6
4 / What, So What, Now What / 50points / End of Week 6
Total Points / 200

Module Five – Facilitation Techniques

2 week module

March 6-19, 2011

The objectives for this module are to distinguish and analyze various facilitation techniques and modalities for the appropriate intervention and optimal patient/client outcomes.This module focuses on the vast array of facilitation techniques available to TR professionals. You are asked to gain knowledge of the techniques through 2 key assignments:a discussion board and observation/reflection of an actual facilitation technique. In addition you are to continue your icebreakers in this module.